JAMI

Jami has written some beautiful quatrains,
wherein he deals with important issues of the Sufi path
like unity, which are at times expressed in terms of love,
lover and the Beloved.

~

You’ll be able to read the transcription of his Persian text and
then you can read the English translation.

Gar dar dele to gol gozarad gol baashi
Var bolbol biqaraar bolbol baashi
To jozvi o haqq koll ast agar ruzi chand
Andisheye koll pishe koni koll baashi

And if it would be a restless nightingale, be a nightingale!
You are a part and Reality is the Whole,
So for a few days only meditate on the Whole, be the Whole!
If in your heart a rose appears, be a rose!

Zaan zamzameyam ze paye taa sar hame ‘eshq
Haqqa keh be ‘ahdha nayaayam birun
Bar ‘ude delam nawaakht yak zamzameye ‘eshq
Az ‘ahdeye haqq gozaari yakdameye ‘eshq

On the lute of my heart plays only one song of love:
Because of this melody, from head to foot, I am in love.
Truly, for ages I’ll never be able
To pay what I owe for one moment of love.

Baa golrokhe khish goftam ay ghonche dahaan
Har lahze mapôsh chereh chun ‘eshve dahaan
Zad khande keh man be ‘akse khubaane jahaan
Dar parde ‘eyaan baasham o bi parde nehaan.

To my rosy cheeked friend I said: ‘O, you with a mouth like a rosebud!
Do not always hide your face as if you are a flirting girl!’
She laughed and said: ‘Unlike the beauties of this world,
In the curtain I am manifest and without the curtain I am hidden.

Rokhsaar-e to bi neqaab didan natavaan
Didaar-e to bi hejaab didan natavaan
Maadaan keh dar kamaal-e eshraaq bovad
Sar-chashmeye aaftaab didan natavaan.

Without a veil your countenance cannot be seen,
Without a veil your eyes cannot be seen.
Unless one is experiencing complete enlightenment
The source of the sun cannot be seen.

Hasti ke zohur mikonad dar hame shai’
Khaahi ke bari be haale vai baa hame pai
Rav bar sare mai habaab raa bin ke chesaan
Mai vai bovad andar mai o vai dar mai mai

Being manifests Itself in everything.
If you want to discover Its state in everything,
Go and see how the bubbles are on top of the wine:
The wine is they in them and they are wine in the wine!

Hamsaaye o hamneshin o hamrah hame ust
Dar dalaqe gadaa o atlase shah hame ust
Dar anjomane farq o nehaan khaaneye jam’
Be-llaah hame ust summa be-llaah hame ust

Neighbour, companion, fellow traveller, all are He!
In mendicant’s habit and in king’s satin, all are He!
In the assemblies of separation and in the private places of union,
By God, all are He, once again: by God, all are He.

Ai aaine raa daade jalaa’ surat-e-to
Yak aaine kas nadid bi surat-e-to
Nai nai ke ze lotf dar hameye aainehaa
Khod aamade i padid nai surat-e-to

O, radiance has been given to the mirror because of Your face.
No one has ever seen a mirror without Your face.
No, no! It is because of Your grace,
That in every mirror You Yourself appear and not Your face.

Ay dar haram-e qods-e to kas raa jaa nay
‘Aalam beh to peydaa o to khod peydaa nay
Maa o to ze ham jodaaniim ammaa hast
Maa raa beh to haajat o toraa baa maa nay

O, You in whose holy tabernacle none has any place:
The world appears because of You, but of You is no trace.
You and I, we are not separated, but I,
I, though You don’t need me, I am in need of Your grace.

Ay del talab-e kamaal dar madrase chand
Takmil osul-e hekmat o handase chand
Har fekr keh joz zekr-e khodaa waswase ast
Sharmi ze khodaa be-daar in waswase chand

O, heart! How long will you search for perfection in schools?
How long will you try to perfect philosophy, geometry and all its rules?
Every thought which is no remembrance of God is an evil inspiration,
Be modest before God! How long these evil thoughts? (Leave them to fools!)

Maa’im be raah-e ‘eshq puyaan hame ‘omr
Vasl-e to be jedd o jahd juyaan hame ‘omr
Yek cheshm zadan khayaal-e to pish nazar
Behtar ke jamaal-e khubruyaan hame ‘omr

We have run on the path of love all our life,
We have searched with great force for union with You all our life.
To catch one glimpse of You is better for our sight
Than the beauty of earthly beauties all our life.

Har surat-e delkash ke toraa ruyi namud
Khaahad falakash zud ze cheshm-e to robud
Rav del be kasi de ke dar atvaar-e vojud
Bud ast hamishe baa to o khaahad bud.

Each attractive form that shows its face to you,
Destiny will soon steal it from the eyes of you.
Go and give your heart to someone who in all turns of existence
Always has been with you and always will be with you.

Aay khwaaja agar maal agar farzand ast
Peydaa-st ke moddat baqaayash chand ast
Khosh aanke delash be delbari darband ast
Kash baa del o jaan ahl-e del peyvand ast

O, man of importance, perhaps with money and offspring you may start,
But it is clear that with all these after a short time you will have to part.
Happy is he who connects his heart to the Beloved.
And with heart and soul is tied to the folk of heart.